China - Robert Juliat has supplied a large quantity of profiles and followspots to the newly built Guangzhou Opera House in China.

Designed by London based Zaha Hadid Architects, Guangzhou Opera House has been created as a leading 'palace of art', and a landmark of both the city's new development and Guangzhou's cultural status.

Based around a 'twin boulder' design, the venue consists of an 1800-seat opera house and 400-seat multi-functional theatre. These will run a broad programme encompassing ballet, symphony orchestral music, experimental drama and artistic and cultural exchange.

Robert Juliat Asia supplied the Opera House with a range of 2000W profiles in the form of 20 RJ 711SX, 16 RJ 714SX and four RJ 713SX, and a total of six followspots: two Lucy 13/22° 1200W HMI, two Alex 7/14.4° 2500W tungsten and two Ginger 13/22° 2500W tungsten units. The Concert Hal

UK - The durability of VDC supplied cabling and live sound kit was put to the test by Placebo and LEE Engineering during a gruelling, two year world tour which came to a close last month - a test that it passed with flying colours. According to Ian Nelson, director at LEE Engineering and Placebo FOH engineer, the man who, with VDC, oversaw the specification and development of the tour's audio technical infrastructure, its performance and reliability was unparalleled.

He said: "When we came to pack away the kit after the last date in Brixton, Brandon Reece and myself just looked at each other in disbelief. I can honestly say that I have never seen a line system go more than four or five weeks without a problem cropping up, let alone two years, and I've been in this business for 15 years."

Niall Holden, MD at VDC Trading said: "It's always great when customers tak

The Netherlands - Elation Professional's new TVL2000 is designed to be the "ultimate LED broadcast light." The TVL2000 is equipped with 450 cool white and 450 warm white LEDs that can be combined to adjust colour temperature from 3200°K to 6500°K. The unit provides a 30° beam angle standard and produces up to 98 foot candles @ a 10'/3.05m throw.

Using either onboard controls or a standard DMX-512 controller, operators can blend the LEDs to create any shade of white, from cool natural daylight to soft warm tungsten - or anything in between, says the company. The versatile TVL2000 makes it possible to instantly customize studio lighting to complement any skin tone or production environment with a soft, even white output.

The panel also features full 0-100% dimming capabilities, so users can fade in and out and control the intensity of the light. A 4-way bar

Russia - The 2010 Victory Day Parade in Moscow saw the skies over Red Square alight with colour and a spectacular fireworks display. Clay Paky fixtures were at the heart of the event which marked the 65th anniversary of the Soviet Union's victory in the Great Patriotic War in 1945.

The festivities began in the afternoon with the largest parade held in Moscow since the Soviet Union's dissolution in 1991 and saw 11,135 troops and 127 aircraft and helicopters making a fly over the Kremlin to form the number '65'. For the first time, the 2010 parade also included military units from foreign countries who were allied with the Soviet Union during World War II, with representation from France, Poland, the UK and the USA and members of the Commonwealth of Independent States. Approximately two dozen world leaders also attended the event.

But it was the evening celebration that had all

Greece - This past October, the renovated Galaxy Bar on the roof of the Hilton Hotel in Athens unveiled its new look. Its refreshed and innovative appearance is based on 35 Martin Professional smartMAC gobo and colour-changing moving heads which, recessed in the ceiling, project onto an equivalent number of hanging 'drums', giving an impressive luminous effect of pattern, colour and movement.

The smartMACs are controlled via a PC-based Martin LightJockey system with the DMX line protected by nine opto-splitters. A Martin Fingers controller is also used to allow hands on access to LightJockey functions.

The lighting scenarios at Galaxy Bar run automatically during the day and night. Using Fingers, the lighting looks can be manually bypassed by the lighting operator if he wishes to choose another scenario out of a list of more than sixty combinations.

The DMX network design an

Argentina - Opened in 1908, Teatro Colón in Buenos Aires is considered one of the most prestigious opera houses in the world. Renowned for both its architecture and magnificent acoustics, it has hosted such stars as Maria Callas, Richard Strauss, Arturo Toscanini, Igor Stravinsky, Enrico Caruso, and Luciano Pavarotti.

Over time, the opera house began to show signs of its age and was in need of a technological update. When Mayor Mauricio Macri gave the approval to move forward with the redesign, Teatro Colon turned to lighting designer Ernesto Diz who enlisted the help of Stage Tech SRL and Philips Entertainment for a complete lighting design renovation.

"Teatro Colon is one of the most celebrated buildings in all of Argentina," said Antonio Agra, CEO of Stage Tech SRL. "When we were contacted by Ernesto to supply the gear for the lighting system renovation we w

UK - The Lords Mayor's Show, which took place on 13 November in London, celebrated the new appointment of Alderman Michael Bear as the 683rd Lord Mayor of London. The procession which commemorated over 800 years of the city's history included a three-mile long parade mixed with a display of the city's past, present and future. Local businesses, charities, HM Forces, the City Police and Londoners all celebrating the citys tradition and future joined the procession.

As part of the Lord Mayor's evening celebrations, Stage Electrics worked closely with lighting designer Rob Mills to supply all the lighting equipment including 30 Pulsar LED ChromaFlood lights, 16 Thomas Pixeline 1044 LED battens and 13 LED Showtec Arcbar3, plus a selection of moving lights including Martin MAC 301's and Clay Paky Alpha Beam 300's. This was used to illuminate the HQS Wellington moored on the Thames wh

UK - Llannelli-based Lighting Technology Projects (LTP) has created an elegant lighting design and completed installation of the scheme for the new Alfie Morland pedestrian bridge in Hemel Hempstead, Hertfordshire.

LTP was commissioned by developers Dandara, who co-ordinated the construction and delivery of the bridge, an eye-catching addition to Hemel Hempstead's new contemporary town centre 'Image' development.

Apart from being subtle in terms of the installation and looking fabulous, the lighting design had to conform to BS Standards BS5489-1:2003 + A2:2008 for road lighting - which governs the specific lux levels required to light public bridges and highways.

The LTP team - project managed on site by Jonathan Adkins and co-ordinated in the office by Keith Elms - formulated a design and specification that met and exceeded the required lux levels of 300 or above, utilising

UK - PLASA Focus: Leeds 2011, taking place at The Royal Armouries, Leeds on Tuesday 19 and Wednesday 20 April 2011, is near to sell out. 120 companies have confirmed they are exhibiting, leaving only a handful of stands now remaining for this popular event.

The success of PLASA Focus was confirmed by a record-breaking event earlier this year in April, which saw attendance top 1800 - an increase of 30% on the previous year. The event hosted 130 exhibitors, including 33 first-time exhibitors.

Show director Nicola Rowland said, "This is a hugely popular event and that's essentially down to the unique PLASA Focus ethos, which is to offer exhibitors a straight choice between shell scheme and truss, keeping the event affordable and hassle-free for exhibitors. It also means that visitors have the opportunity to meet more companies and to see the first UK showing of products laun

UK Series eight of the BBC One hit show Strictly Come Dancing closed October with a Halloween theme featuring virtual lightning bolts, ghosts, goblins, and the finest amateur dancers in the UK. To add some real punch to his lightning effects, lighting designer Mark Kenyon specified Solaris Quasar 15k high-powered strobes.

"The Quasar strobes' impressive brightness adds a whole new creative element," says Kenyon. "It is especially effective in TV, where the unit's ability to hold at full intensity for several seconds creates a momentary and blinding washout effect, making the viewer at home feel as if they're actually on the live set."

(Jim Evans)

UK - Leeds-based Production Light & Sound provided full production for a new theatre concert production tour, An evening of Carole King & James Taylor. Described as a celebration of their music rather than a tribute, the performers take a musical trip which includes classics as How Sweet it is to be Loved by You, Sweet Baby James, Will You Still Love Me Tomorrow and many more.

The lighting which complements the projected visuals for each number designed and produced by Jason Salvin is simple but very effective. The rig consists of four Generic moving heads, eight Showtec Power brick sets and 11 Showtec 1W RGB LED PARcans.

Salvin commented: "The LED fixtures provide key light and back light across the stage. By using the LED fixtures it provides me with many different colour washes and back light specials which means I can highlight one performe

UK - The 2010 BBC Radio 2 Electric Proms were staged at London's Roundhouse venue, with a production lighting design by Steve Finch and Bryan Leitch with all lighting equipment and crew supplied by Buckinghamshire-based Siyan, including a large quantity of i-Pix products.

The three-night weekend event was headlined by Elton John, Robert Plant and Neil Diamond respectively.

The main challenge for lighting was that it had to look great on TV - the shows were broadcast on TV and BBC I-Player, and streamed live on Radio 2 - and equally as cool for the audience in the Roundhouse. It also had to cover the basic production requirements of each artist and their designers as well as those of three diverse TV directors. The three artist LD's - Andrew Pygott, Will Thomas and Marilyn Lowey - all worked closely with the Siyan team in an advisory capacity to ensure that unique elemen

Australia - The biggest, boldest and brightest show on Australian television this year has tben X-Factor lit by Ian Anderson.

The lighting rig, supplied by Chameleon Touring Systems, is heavily dominated by Vari*Lites including 50 x VL3000 Spot, 12 x VL2000 Spot, 14 x VL3500 Wash, 30 x VL2000 Wash, 16 x VL3000 Wash and 14 x VL500 Wash.

"The Vari*Lites are my preferred light for television," states Anderson. "Their optics are very clean and their light output is bright and crisp particularly out of the VL3000.

"We have replaced five of the standard gobos to allow some different break-up looks and a couple of old favourites like the cone gobo which we've used heaps. The zoom range on the VL3000 Spots is great from very narrow up to a nice wide for soft gobo looks. They offer great flexibility, the colours are good and they are quick. In terms of the

Poland - Lighting designer Steven Abbiss has been on tour with DJ Fatboy Slim since March this year, fulfilling a busy schedule playing international festivals and their own headliner gigs worldwide.

The itinerary has often included visiting two or three different countries in a weekend, so all the equipment for the lighting design was specified by Abbiss and sourced locally at each venue, including an Avolites Tiger Touch lighting console.

Abbiss also carried his own Tiger Touch console to some of the shows to guarantee getting his control desk of choice. Weighing only 27Kgs tucked neatly into a Peli case, it is a small and light enough option for baggage on any tour with this set up.

At the Heineken Open Air Festival in Poland, he ran all 12 data control lines via Ethernet out of the desk, whilst using the touch screen to make a basic schematic of their standard rig

The Netherlands - Clay Paky and Netherlands-based AVL Concept recently joined forces to provide one of the more exciting celebrations held in the Netherlands for Queen's Day 2010.

Queen's Day, or Koninginnedag, is an official holiday throughout the country to commemorate national pride and the royal house. Celebrations begin on the evening of 29 April for the Queen's official birthday. The party continues to 30 April with most cities and towns holding street parties and erecting stages in the town square for live music and other performances. During the last few years AVL Concept has been responsible for the technical side of the Koninginnedag event in the city of Groningen.

AVL Concept was the first customer in the world to buy the new Clay Paky Alpha Spot HPE 700. This young company based in Leek, the Netherlands, specialises in the design, supply and installation of audiovi

UK - West London-based rental company Entec is supplying lighting designer Mark Wood with a lighting package and video projection package for his tour with indie pop songstress Marina & The Diamonds, currently enjoying success with her debut album, The Family Jewels.

Wood's show matches the dynamics of Marina Diamandis' stage performance, adding theatricality, drama and creative texturing to great stagecraft with a minimal but diligently thought out rig.

He was recommended for the designer's role in April this year and started touring with the band in June, kicking off with a festival run which now continues with 2 months of headliners around the UK and Europe.

He was given a creative blank canvas on the lighting, but Diamandis herself was heavily involved in commissioning the video content, some of which was edited by Wood, and she generally takes a keen interest in

Spain - Stonex, a leading Spanish distributor and installer of entertainment lighting systems, this week hosted an open house with LumenRadio hands-on product demonstrations and training for all their customers. LumenRadio personnel were present and CRMX products for indoor and outdoor use were shown with systems featuring premier brands including ETC and Clay Paky.

"Spain is a growing market for wireless lighting controls and Stonex is the driving force in establishing CRMX as the de-facto wireless standard in this market," said Anders Ardstål, VPO of LumenRadio prior to the event. "Our cooperation with Stonex has been very successful and we are excited to have been given the opportunity to participate in this Open House event. We will be conducting training sessions with customers who want to learn how to utilize the full potential of CRMX and its extensive sup

Denmark - By adding a host of new features, including full RDM support and introducing a new DMX licensing system, version 2.8 software for Martin's M1, M-PC and Maxxyz lighting consoles is a milestone release that further enhances the value of Martin's professional controller line for its rapidly growing user base, says the company.

Martin continues its company-wide support of the RDM standard by adding a comprehensive RDM control system to its controllers. Users can now monitor RDM-enabled fixtures connected to a Martin console either directly inside the software or remotely from a website hosted inside the console. This features the ability to download status reports across the Internet, showing real world usability of RDM and adding real value for the customer. RDM is supported over the integrated DMX ports and over Artnet.

It is now possible to receive up to 16 Universes

Italy - Martin Italy is holding two Brighter World road show dates, in Rome (30 November) and Milan (2 December), and invites all interested lighting professionals to attend.

Martin technical personnel will be on hand to provide an up close look at the latest Martin Professional lighting gear, architectural as well as entertainment, including the MAC 350 Entour and MAC 101 LED moving heads.

All participants will have the opportunity to participate in a draw for a free MAC 101, one draw in Rome and one in Milan.

The Rome event takes place at the Hotel Capannelle and the Milan event is at Novotel Milano Linate Aeroporto.

(Jim Evans)

UK - The Enchanted Forest - an annual sound and light show in Highland Perthshire for which Northern Light carried out the technical production - has broken all previous records by clocking up over 20,000 visitors in just 17 days.

This year's event was run for the first time by the Highland Perthshire Community Interest Company (HPCIC), on behalf of the community, who selected Northern Light to work with the sound and lighting designers to bring the show to fruition.

The event has been particularly well received this year, with over a thousand customers rating it the most enjoyable yet.

Nick Read, Northern Light's head of hire and events, said, "This spectacular event was months in the planning and we worked very closely with composer and sound designer R J McConnell and lighting designer Simon Wilkinson to realise the overall concept. We subcontracted the sound

USA - City Theatrical reports that it is now shipping its PDS-750 TRX power/data supply for Philips Color Kinetics CKDMX LED lighting fixtures.

The PDS-750 TRX combines advanced new LED fixture control and configuration features with multi-control protocol interoperability and powerful new data management resources in a single lighting control unit, and represents the first practical implementation of all of these features in a single unit. The unit can be controlled with all popular Ethernet protocols including Streaming ACN, Art-Net, or KI-Net, as well as wired and wireless DMX512, and is fully RDM enabled. Every unit includes a built-in SHoW DMX receiver.

The PDS-750 TRX provides full control capability for the new Philips Color Kinetics five colour RGBAW ColorBlast 12 TRX, as well as 16-bit and 8-bit ColorBlast 12 TRs, iW Blast 12s, conventional 8-bit ColorBlast 12s, Color

UK - Cooper Industries plc has announced the acquisitions of Mount Engineering plc, a UK based manufacturer of specialty threaded adaptors and reducers for harsh and hazardous environments, and Apex Lighting Controls, a private manufacturer of energy management lighting controls also based in the UK.

Mount Engineering specialises in the manufacture and supply of thread-converting adaptors and reducers that are "Ex Certified" for use in potentially explosive or hazardous areas. Additionally, Mount Engineering is engaged in the sale and distribution of industrial valves and actuators to the oil, gas, petrochemical and process industries throughout the world. Mount Engineering will become part of the Cooper Safety division of Cooper Industries.

Apex Lighting Controls delivers integrated lighting control systems and services to manage lighting and energy usage for commer

Sweden - Late in September, six international lighting designers came to the small city of Alingsås in Sweden to participate in the traditional PLDA workshop, Lights in Alingsås, which has grown over the past decade to become the largest exhibition of lighting design in public spaces in Northern Europe.

Together with more than 50 participants from 17 different nations, the workshop heads created unique examples of urban lighting design and light art, as dark evenings and outdoor environments in and around Alingsås were transformed into exciting lighting design installations.

The six lighting workshops were presented in various locations throughout the town from 24 September until the end of October. Martin Professional sponsored two of the workshops.

The pedestrian underpass - Karen van Creveld / PLDA / UK: The group used UV-paint to create wavy lines on the underpass wal

Sweden - Wireless Solution Sweden AB was also involved with Alingsås. W-DMX was used on two of the six project sites, helping to make the event greener than ever, much to the delight of the designers and organizers of the event, which saw approximately 75,000 visitors.

The team working on first of the two sites using W-DMX was headed by German lighting designer Karl M. Reger. His team developed and realized a concept for Kabomhuset's façade and car park. He used a WE-EF gobo projector (WE-EF FLC254 CC-BL) that was controlled via W-DMX.

Says Reger, "The majority of our installation was indoors and the control signal was fed through cables. However, there was one DMX-controlled luminaire outside the building, and it would have been near to impossible to do without the wireless DMX system here because we could not run cables through the windows. This is where Wireless Solu

Latest Issue. . .

Save
Cookies user preferences
We use cookies to ensure you to get the best experience on our website. If you decline the use of cookies, this website may not function as expected.
Accept all
Decline all
Analytics
Tools used to analyze the data to measure the effectiveness of a website and to understand how it works.
Google Analytics
Accept
Decline
Advertisement
If you accept, the ads on the page will be adapted to your preferences.
Google Ad
Accept
Decline